The Serious Fraud Office’s failed attempt to prosecute Barclays PLC and four former executives over the bank's financial crisis-era fundraising with Qatar has potentially set a precedent that will make the anti-fraud agency’s difficult task of prosecuting corporate crime allegations under English law even harder.

Ernst & Young won permission Friday to fight findings that the accountant owes a former partner $11 million in damages for helping cover up a client's gold smuggling, after a London judge said that his conclusions rested on a "novel" concept.

The Court of Appeal on Friday revived a $20 million lawsuit brought by the son of a wealthy South African businessman who accuses Swiss trustees of dishonesty for allowing his father to withdraw his inheritance despite allegedly knowing that he suffered from dementia.

Investors in money manager Neil Woodford's suspended equity fund are set for a payout of more than £200 million ($252 million) after administrators agreed to sell its healthcare portfolio to a U.S buyer.

The past week in London has seen a Chinese billionaire dissident launch another legal fight with UBS AG, a demolition company lodge a negligence claim against Hiscox and an asbestos solutions provider and an airport sim card seller target telecommunications giant Vodafone. Here, Law360 looks at those and other new claims in the U.K.

The European Union said Friday that Brexit trade negotiations remain stalled after four rounds of talks because the U.K. has strayed from pledges agreed to in 2019 that set out general terms for future relations.

The European Union's law enforcement agency launched a financial and economic crime unit on Friday, which it said will help member states tackle a surge in criminal activity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Britain's financial regulator is preparing for thousands of businesses to fold under the weight of compensation bills and investors' liabilities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official has said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday moved to address the Libor transition's implications for certain consumer credit regulatory requirements, issuing compliance guidance and floating rules changes to help smooth creditors' paths away from the benchmark for their variable-rate products.

Denmark's tax authority said Thursday its claim that a U.K. tax management company negligently aided an alleged $2 billion fraud against the Danish government "cries out to be tested at trial," telling a London court the case should not be struck out.

European business financier Proventus Capital Partners is suing the husband and wife business owners of an aircraft leasing company for £18 million ($23 million) after they allegedly defaulted on loan agreements.

A London judge refused Thursday to give a Nigerian engineering company extra time to obtain documents it says will help prove the whereabouts of money at the heart of its $3.7 million dispute with First City Monument Bank PLC.

A London judge on Thursday denied a bid by Towergate Financial to appeal her decision holding that its financial advisers aren't on the hook for part of the £50 million ($62.9 million) the U.K.-based firm might have to pay over missold pension products.

U.K. insurance broker J&M has told a London court it is owed more than £300,000 ($376,000) after it handled credit card chargeback requests from thousands of Alpha customers when the insurer collapsed, as it fought back against a breach of contract lawsuit.

An Indian businessman accused of tricking a hedge fund into buying $70 million in securities won a chance at defending himself in London when a judge adjourned the trial on Thursday to allow him to find a way to take part from a jail cell.

The Court of Appeal handed more power to prosecutors in a recent decision by lowering the bar for proving dishonesty in criminal cases, a move that could encourage more prosecutions against individuals for complex frauds.

The European Securities and Markets Authority set out guidance on Thursday to ensure that national regulators across the European Union prevent asset managers from overcharging retail investors for a fund's performance.

British banks must hand over estimates of the hit they expect to take from loan defaults, the Bank of England said Thursday, as it works to calculate the toll of the coronavirus pandemic on the U.K. economy.

The Bank of England said Thursday it expects the country's critically important financial institutions not to make payments to shareholders during the COVID-19 crisis unless they have discussed it with the watchdog.

New York state's top financial services regulator on Wednesday announced a fintech coordination agreement with French authorities to promote regulatory compliance and ensure that fintech innovators have a smooth entry into both markets.

An accountant must pay nearly £600,000 ($750,000) after a U.K. tax court ruled his purchase of shares in a technology company and resale to it on the same day for the same amount was taxable to him as a distribution.

A London judge on Wednesday delayed settlement talks between former professional soccer players and a British wealth manager accused of giving them bad advice on tax schemes, saying the lawsuit may need to be pared before negotiations.

European law firm Fieldfisher has brought on a new partner from BDB Pitmans to join its London disputes team, while Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has announced the return of one of its former attorneys from UBS.

A U.K. tax management firm urged a London court on Wednesday to dismiss Denmark's claim it aided an alleged $2 billion tax fraud against the Danish government by negligently submitting fraudulent tax refund claims on behalf of clients.

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Editor's Picks

UPDATED June 5, 2020, 12:06 PM GMT | As courts across the region take measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, some are restricting access and altering their procedures. Here is a roundup of changes.

Anne Giviskos, head of risk and compliance at Euronext, talks to Law360 about the challenges of creating a companywide culture amid significant growth, the importance of keeping up with technology in the fight against market abuse and her department’s approach to regulatory change.

Martina Rejsjö and Jimmy Kvarnström talk to Law360 about Nasdaq’s big focus on innovation to better detect patterns in trading behavior, the skills required to work in a tech-driven environment and the issues that take up the bulk of their time on a daily basis.

Expert Analysis

While the U.K. Bribery Act has been positive overall, regulators should seek urgent reform to better enable the investigation and prosecution of companies and individuals for economic crimes, especially in cases directly harming people and the environment, says Chris Phillips at Alvarez & Marsal.

As COVID-19-related fraud gains pace, U.K.-based practitioners should help combat money laundering by using alternative methods to verify that new clients are who they say they are, says Christopher Convey, a barrister at 33 Chancery Lane and chair of the Bar Council's Money Laundering Working Group.

Even by the usual standards of a "Dear CEO" letter, the Financial Conduct Authority's April 28 letter is strongly worded — signaling no tolerance for banks using their corporate clients' cash-flow problems as leverage to obtain roles on equity mandates they otherwise would not have obtained, says Claire Cross at Corker Binning.

With an eye on the impact of COVID-19 and the evolving threat of financial crime, Christa Band and Jane Larner at Linklaters provide an overview of the near-future challenges financial institutions should expect.

Covington attorneys Alex Leitch and Harry Denlegh-Maxwell provide a bird's-eye view of how U.K. businesses will navigate the legal and economic aftermath of the pandemic, including discussion of where litigation funding, class actions, insurance disputes and force majeure fit it.

Since the last financial crisis, borrowers and private equity sponsors have cut distressed investors out of most European leveraged loan deals, but the recent economic turmoil due to the pandemic could create opportunities for distressed investors to return to the market, say attorneys at Orrick.

While the COVID-19 outbreak is a real-time test of the U.K. justice system’s adaptability and innovation, it is also an opportunity to deliver alternative dispute resolution through virtual technology — and there are two ways in which this could be achieved, says Suzanne Rab at Serle Court.

The U.K. Court of Appeals' recent decision in Filatona Trading v. Navigator Equities — concluding that an unnamed party could seek enforcement of a contract — sheds light on undisclosed principals' rights and obligations, and the interaction between agency and contract law, says Jonathan Swil at Shearman & Sterling.

In AA v. Persons Unknown, the English High Court classified bitcoins as property that can be the subject of proprietary injunctions, indicating the slow but growing acceptance of virtual currencies within the U.K., say Steven De Lara and Colin Grech at Signature Litigation.

Though EU and U.K. data protection laws should not impede the fight against COVID-19, companies must continue to protect individuals' data, and the challenges of managing a remote workforce and the desire for information about the virus’s impact have significant implications for that responsibility, say attorneys at Debevoise.

The European Commission's call for EU member states to exercise vigilance in screening new foreign investments in health care confirms a shift away from historical free trade principles in response to the coronavirus pandemic, says Mathieu de Korvin at FTPA Avocats.

The U.K. government's plans to protect company directors from wrongful trading liability is a laudable attempt to mitigate COVID-19's harm to the economy, but they may create problems by keeping unviable businesses artificially afloat, says Howard Morris at MoFo.

Starting Monday, non-U.K. resident landlords are subject to broadly the same U.K. tax treatment as residents with respect to income derived from U.K. property, and landlords and lenders should be considering the impact on transaction cashflows and covenant compliance, say James Spencer and Sherry Scrivens at Alston & Bird.